Chased through the America's
by cuddles1234XD
Summary: two assassins come to the zoo. their targets. Skipper and Julian. THey force Skipper and Julian to flee the zoo for safety. Skipper and Julian are forced to work to gether on a dangerous 'cat and mouse' game through the north central and south america's.
1. Chapter 1

_**I got this idea after watching Rango, oddly. It has nothing to do with Rango. It just includes running through most of the western United States. The Wild West. So yeah I don't know how that happened. But it happened and here you are, reading my story. That is why you clicked the story. To read it. So I will let you do just that. I'm not too good at beginnings, so I am just going to jump in. **_

_**So yeah, Enjoy!**_

"I would hate to see the two of you stuck together," Marlene stated.

Julian and Skipper were facing away from each other, arms crossed, quite annoyed.

"I told you Marlene, I can't work with him. And if he keeps stealing things from us he'll have to do more than just give it back," Skipper growled.

"Well if you weren't such a party pooper, I would not be so hard for you to work with," Julian shot back, turning around.

"If you weren't so annoying, I wouldn't have to crash your little parties," Skipper countered, also turning around. He balled his flippers into fists annoyed. He was sick and tired of having to run over to Julian's stupid little habitat to reclaim what was theirs after they had come back from a mission.

Marlene shook her head. They were supposed to come to a compromise. Julian had to stop taking things from the guys, or else Skipper would make him sorry. It was a fact.

Julian balled his own hands into fists. "Well if you weren't such a penguin, I wouldn't annoy you," He barked.

"Such a penguin? You don't even know what you're saying!" Skipper shouted angrily, Julian was wearing down his last nerve.

"I do too! You are the one who is not knowing what you are saying!" Julian yelled. Skipper didn't know anything.

"Being a penguin has nothing to do with tolerance!" Skipper growled.

"It has everything to do with tolerance!" Julian shouted.

Skipper grabbed his head and stomped away from Julian growling. "How can you possibly be so stupid!" He screamed, angrily, turning back towards the lemur.

"Me! You are the stupid one!" Julian shot back, pointing at Skipper, not really knowing what else to say.

"Stop. Stop. Stop!" Private cried, annoyed The two of them had been going back and forth for half an hour already. Yes Julian had stolen their things, yes they had to go get them back. And yes it had been happening a lot lately. But this bicker backering back and forth was just, annoying. They didn't have to like each other. Tolerance was all they were asked.

Skipper and Julian both had on the same looks. Hands in fists, growling, head slightly tilted down, anger filled eyes. They both looked just about ready to kill each other.

"We wanted to get something out of this. But obviously you two are more uncooperative than we originally thought," Kowalski stated. "Julian, apologize and promise-"

"How many times do I have to explain to you people that apologies are the weak and wrong!" Julian argued.

Skipper growled. Julian was really testing his nerves now. He didn't know how much more he could take.

"Julian, just do it," Private ordered. He wanted this to be over.

"Uhg, fine. I, you know, apologize," Julian said emotionlessly. He hated apologizing.

"And..." Private pushed.

"And I will not take any more of your silly things," Julian added, begrudged. Some of their things were really fun to play with. Until Skipper came and took them away.

Everyone turned to Skipper. He had his back turned towards Julian. He hadn't replied.

"Skipper," Private warned. Skipper had to do his part too.

Skipper took a deep breath. "There's nothing to say. If he doesn't steal out things, we'll leave him alone," he said calmly. He was perfectly fine with leaving Julian alone. He was perfectly fine with having nothing to do with Julian. As long as he didn't steal or annoy him, Skipper would leave Julian alone. Case closed.

"So I can never play with anything ever again?" Julian asked. He wasn't angry or annoyed anymore. The thought of never being able to play with one of the smarty penguins inventions was, to him, sorrowful. He had a lot of fun with those.

Skipper could tell that Julian didn't actually steal their things with the full intent of annoying them. he was just bored. Skipper knew that from the start, but it still wasn't and excuse. Though, he might've been a little hard on Ringtail. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep lately, he was becoming more edgy as more sleepless days went by. He sighed. "Stealing is without permission," He stated. He walked to the door and looked back at Julian. "Ask next time. I might just let you blow yourself up." He walked out.

Julian lit up at the thought. Skipper would probably say no to most of the things he asked to play with. But that left room for yeses. And as long has he had his boom box, and could do other things, he could learn to live with that.

Everyone went back to their habitats after Skipper left. The objective of the meeting had been achieved. There was no other reason to stay.

"That was very nice of you Skippah," Private said, closing the door. He thought Skipper would want nothing to do with Julian's addiction to stealing their things. Just for it to end. The fact that he had left the possibility for Julian to still play with some of Kowalski's inventions was shocking.

Skipper shrugged, "I didn't want to deal with his moaning, and pleading, or any of it," he replied. He knew Julian couldn't help it sometimes. He couldn't hold back the urge. Skipper knew that, he had observed it. He felt a little bad for Julian. But he couldn't do anything to help it, so he didn't worry too much about it. But he really hadn't wanted to deal with Julian's moaning and crying. He didn't lie.

"Yeah," Kowalski half agreed, "but you could've just left. You didn't have to give him the option of asking permission," Kowalski countered. He was curious as to why Skipper didn't just leave, like he expected Skipper to.

"I don't see why it matters," Skipper replied, "I'll say no to him anyway. Just now I don't have to deal with him as much."

Kowalski left it alone. He knew that Julian wasn't going to leave them alone. He might be less annoying. Skipper always got annoyed with Julian. Maybe even just a little less annoying was an achievement for him. Kowalski couldn't tell. Maybe Julian really would leave them alone now.

They all went to sleep, it was late at night and they were all pretty tired.

Julian wasn't completely happy with having to apologize, or agree not to steal anymore. But he was ok with asking, so he fell asleep relatively quick.

Neither one of them could stand each other for more than an hour or so. But that was about to change. Through a series of twists and turns and scary dangerous events. How they viewed each other was going to change. Some might say dramatically so.

_**This wasn't as good as others I've written, or other beginnings that you've read probably. But I promise the actual story will be more interesting. **_


	2. the shocking truth

_**Stay with me ok? This story might take off a little slow. But trust me things will heat up.**_

The next morning the zoo did not open on time. Alice never came. Nor did she have a replacement. The maintenance workers never showed up either. The other workers also failed to show. The zoo was like a ghost town. Nothing moved, no lights came on, no doors opened. People walked by the gates like the zoo wasn't even there. Something wasn't right.

Everyone was gathered in front of the café. They were all talking, wondering what was wrong. Why no one had showed up to even take care of the zoo. It didn't make any sense. None at all. Someone always came in the morning. Where were all the humans? They were all basically freaking out.

Skipper jumped up onto a table. He had to calm everyone down, there was no real need to panic. The humans forgot about the zoo for a day. It was just one day. "Hey!" He shouted. "There's no need to panic, so the humans forgot about the zoo for a day. It's just one day, calm down," He said, calmly. "If they fail to show tomorrow we'll look further into it. But right now it'll be best if everyone remained calm. *Capisce?" He said with authority. No one needed to freak if the humans failed to show one day. The boss probably accidentally sent a memo to all of the workers that they could take the day off. George was stupid enough to do something like that. Skipper would normally be suspicious, but he knew the owner of the zoo. He had seen George show off his unintelligence many times. Something like this was just bound to happen sometime.

"But why aren't dey here?" Julian asked, "Aren't the humans always here? They are not allowed to take off all togethah! I, as the King, forbid it!"

Skipper sighed, "Julian one you aren't the king, and two, it was probably the owner. If you remember him and some of the things he's done, it wouldn't very surprising if he caused this." Skipper replied casually. He wasn't all that worried. The humans would probably be back tomorrow.

"Exactly," Kowalski agreed, "George is capable of such stupidity. He probably told everyone to take the day off. Every boss has to do that, well not all at the same time, to keep their employees," He explained.

"So… this isn't a sign of total disaster?" Marlene asked. She wanted to make sure she understood correctly.

"Nope," Rico replied.

"Not yet anyway," Private added innocently.

Marlene, and most other zoo inhabitants, let out a sigh of relief.

It was, however, very short lived.

All of a sudden, and out of nowhere, a bomb went off ten meters from their location. Everyone ran, dove under tables, and hid around corners. All but the penguins.

The quartette snapped into fighting positions and cautiously moved towards the wall of smoke created by the explosion. They were ready for everything and anything.

Skipper didn't know what to expect. Then again, when a random explosion goes off without warning, something worse usually follows. Still, it could be one of Rico's. A bomb sometimes got away from him. It only happened in the HQ though, never out in the open. Rico was normally good with keeping his dangerous explosives inside when they were outside of the HQ. Something didn't seem right. His gut told him that something was amiss. As he inched towards the smoke he thought… what if none of the humans showing up was a bad omen? Skipper wasn't big on coincidences, but he was beginning to wish and hope that this was one.

Kowalski thought it was Rico. He probably let a bomb get away again. It wasn't unnatural for things like that to happen with Rico, just never outside the HQ walls. Maybe it wasn't. But he hadn't seen anything fall from the sky. He hadn't noticed anyone throwing the explosive. If it was an enemy, it would explain why no humans had showed up today. But still, who would go through all that trouble?

Private was just hoping it wasn't someone very dangerous. He didn't feel like getting inflicted with pain today, or being captured. Having no humans show up was bad enough.

Rico knew it wasn't him. He never let a bomb get away from him. Not out in the open. He made sure no bomb accidently got away from him. If one did, everyone knew about it. His accidents were very clear to see. Most of the time. The question remained, if he didn't accidentally let the bomb get away from him…then where did it come from?

All four of them were blown away when the smoke cleared. They stood not five feet from the men who caused the explosion. The very men who had shown them most of the world. Who they trusted and looked up to. The very men who they thought were dead. KIC. Killed on a mission in Ecuador.

Standing in front of them were two Gentoo penguins. They were both staring at the quartette with looks of anger. They each wore two red painted squiggly lines on their foreheads, and had straps around their backs. They carried an assortment of grenades and knives on the front of the strap along with a few darts, and different types of weapons on their backs. One was taller than the other. The taller one carried an assortment of guns, machines and shotguns with a pistol on his hip. The other one had bows and arrows along with swords on his back and what looked to be a net and horseshoes on his hip. It didn't take a genius to figure it out. Any penguin would recognize a twosome like this anywhere. They were assassins.

All four of them, Skipper Kowalski Rico and Private, had to do a double take. They couldn't believe their eyes. It just couldn't be true. They had to be dreaming. These two were supposed to be dead. Eaten by piranhas and buried in Ecuador. What were they doing in the zoo? More importantly, _**most**_ importantly, what were they doing in assassin costumes? Could it be true? Were they really alive? As assassins? They couldn't be. They were noble, honorable men. They were heroes, not assassins. They were dead. All four of them watched, helplessly as they died. They watched these two scream, they saw the little fish jumping in and out of the water, they watched the pool of blood spread out it the water. They watched these two die. They couldn't be here right now. They just couldn't be.

"Man-Manfredi? J-Johnson?" Skipper asked completely confused and shocked. "What-what are you doing here? Why aren't you dead? We watched you die." He was completely thrown off. Manfredi and Johnson were dead. That was a fact. Were his eyes deceiving him? Did he really see his fallen comrades before him?

"What you saw were our clones." Johnson replied emotionlessly. "You have failed Skipper."

"Failed?" Skipper asked. He had no clue as to what that meant. He had failed at a lot of things. There were some things that he just couldn't do. But he had a feeling the Johnson wasn't talking about failing something normal, like a dance competition or a game of cards.

"We are here on an assignment," Manfredi informed also with no emotion, "We are on two assignments."

"You weren't supposed to befriend these creatures," Johnson continued, "You were supposed to separate yourself from them. You were supposed to push these three," He motioned to Kowalski Rico and Private, "Away. You were supposed to close up. But you didn't. You did the opposite. You let them become even closer. You. Failed."

"Wh-Why would I need to-to push them away?" Skipper asked confused, and a little frightened, "They're-they're my friends. I-I wouldn't push them away."

"You were supposed to push the world away. When you were engulfed with our deaths you were supposed to turn to anger. You were supposed to lose the control you had gained over the years," Johnson explained.

"But we trained you too well," Manfredi continued. "Our training kept you in control. Instead of letting your anger take control you calmed yourself and transformed it back into sorrow. And these things," He motioned to the guys, "Only helped you keep control. You were all hit hard. But even so, you there for each other. More so than we had planned."

"You're not making any sense," Skipper replied, close to freaking out. He didn't understand any of this. What did he fail by letting people get close to him? How was that a bad thing? Opening up. It was supposed to be good. It was how you made friends. Friends were a good thing. He remembered the, what Johnson had told him once. Friends were just enemies that hadn't stuck yet. He had viewed it that way very few times. Only when he was in a paranoia fit did he think of it that way. But he still didn't understand anything.

"You want it plain and simple Skipper? We are trained assassins. We always have been. But we won't live forever. So we needed a replacement. You were supposed to be that replacement. We were training you to be an assassin. Everything we taught you was to prepare you. But you've settled. And you no longer have what it takes, heart wise," Johnson explained.

"An assassin?" Skipper said shocked. Never in his life did he ever think of them as assassins. But that's not what hit him. He was trained to be an assassin. Did that mean everything he learned was wrong? Evil? Was all of his training for those with no hearts? Could he be using the technique of assassins? The thought scared him. No one had ever cowered after he'd fought. People were impressed. But did they know about assassins? Did they know if the assassins had a secret fighting style, unique to the assassin society?

"Yes an assassin. That is what you were supposed to be. But you failed your final test. Now-" Johnson started.

"Wait. You-y," Skipper didn't understand still, "Y-y-y. You can't be assassins. You were honorable, noble. You're not supposed to be here. You're dead. Killed in combat. You were eaten by piranhas. I watched you die," He argued, confused and freaked.

"You're being difficult Skipper!" Johnson growled. "You're obviously not going to listen to us unless you have the information. So we'll give it to you. We knew about everything you've done since our _clones _died. A few things that might calm you down a bit. The credo wasn't made by assassins. It was created by an honorable man. A man of truth, if you will. Second, the style of combat that we taught you is used by many around the world. Though it is a minority, both good and evil use the style. And last but not least, we created the clones that you saw die in the river in Ecuador, for your final test. And we accepted these freaks to help clarify the final test, that might I remind you, YOU FAILED!" Johnson said annoyed.

Skipper just stared at them. This was real. This wasn't just a dream. Manfredi and Johnson were assassins. And he was their next target. He didn't want to believe it. They had lied to him half his life? They had been like brothers to him. They looked after him and took him places taught him things. It was all for preparation? To kill people? How- how could this be? How could they be so heartless? How could they be so good at deception? How? These-these-these men that he's trusted and looked up to since the day he met them. They had deceived him. Lied to him. They made him think of them as the most honorable men in the world when in reality they were quite the opposite. Outcasts who went around killing. Murdering. He was finding it very hard to believe. These men couldn't be the same ones Skipper had known in his past. They couldn't be.

"We are here to eliminate you. You and the King named Julian," Manfredi growled.

Skipper hated being so confused. He hated them for lying to him. For using him like a puppet. He wasn't a killer. Nothing that life had ever done to him could ever make him a killer. He lost his temper, sure. But everyone did. Few things made him lose his temper. Things that he hated. He hated being so confused, and shocked, and-and hurt. He was hurt by them. By how well they were able to deceive him. How able they were to just kill people in cold blood. He was disturbed. "How could you?" He growled. "How can you? How can you stand there, look me in the eye, and tell me that from the day I first met you you've lied to me? Do you know how heartless you have to be? Do even have a heart at all? I looked up to you. I trusted you. And lied to me. And now you tell me you're going to kill me? Why didn't you just leave me alone? Move onto your next victim? I would've never known. Why couldn't you just let me live with the lie? Let me die believing that you were heroes? The heroes you never were."

"It's not that easy," Johnson replied, emotionless once more.

"Care to explain that too? While you're at it explain why you taught me everything if I was just going to have to ignore it later," Skipper snapped.

"You are now evidence. If the king was to find your file and see that you were a fail that lived, you and all of your little friends would be eliminated. We might be killers, but we don't see why a group needs to suffer from one mistake. Plus we would suffer too," Manfredi explained.

"Cowards," Skipper spat. "You're just a bunch of cowards. That's all you ever were. Only cowards kill to solve problems. Only cowards kill for safety. You've been hiding behind your assassin group or whatever you call it. You've been hiding. Hiding behind lies and deceptions. You wouldn't last ten seconds without that title. I thought you were honorable men. But you know what? Now, I know a fact. Mort has more honor than you've ever had. And he doesn't even know what honor is. And you know what else, I know that even if you kill me. Even if you kill a thousand more soles after me, you'll be miserable. And you'll die miserable. I'd hate to be an assassin. Just because of that. I'd rather die right here right now than live a thousand years as one of you. Because, you can't say you've been happy. You can't say you've know what friends are, because you've never had any. The only thing that binds you together is the weapons on your back and your stone cold hearts. But me? I've known. I've seen with my own eyes, and felt it. You don't know what friendship is, but I do. And these things, these creatures, these freaks, they have more heart in the tips of their toes than you'd have in a thousand of your bodies. You came here to kill. You can kill me. I don't care. But I'd like to see you kill Julian. I dare you to. Go ahead, try. You won't succeed. I'll promise you that. As I live and breathe, you won't even get close to him," Skipper hissed. And he meant it too. Every word. They could've left him alone. They could've moved on, given the job to someone else, he would've never known. But they didn't. They chose to come here, they knew what it would do.

"Lot of words for one man. Don't' worry, we'll take you up on that little challenge of yours. As you live and breathe right? Well, we'll just have to kill you first," Johnson taunted.

Skipper growled, they lied to him. They made him believe things. But if the credo was true for all. Then he was going to follow it. Rule fifty one, never leave a man to death if it can be prevented. He had the ability to save Julian. And he was going to.

"You want to play a game Skipper? Fine. You be the target, don't move. We'll play the training men. We'll destroy you," Manfredi said.

"That's not going to work Manfredi. If I'm going to be your target, then I'm going to be a moving one. And I'm not just going to move back and forth," Skipper replied, emotionless. He didn't want them to get any ideas.

"And what do you have in mind, Kid?" Johnson asked.

"I'll leave you to find that out," Skipper said. "I'd wish you good luck. But then assassins don't get luck. They have skill. And that's it."

"You know more about us than you think. If you didn't have such a heart you'd make a great assassin," Johnson stated flatly.

"Just so you know, Johnson, there's nothing that this world could throw at me that would ever take my heart away. I was doomed to fail your little test from the start. I have to say, that last test of yours would've worked. But only for a short while. And you were right, if it wasn't for Kowalski, Rico, and Private I would've lost it. I'm glad I didn't. I'm grateful for their presence. Because of them I didn't turn into you. I am who I am because of them. And where you see that as a curse, I see it a blessing," Skipper said calmly.

They both growled back at him. But the rest of the zoo stood in shock. Before them stood the men who they heard as abnormal, yes, but good men. And they were the opposite. They doubted the guys at first, thinking that they had lived among assassins. But the guys had been fooled too. Skipper had absolutely blown them away, in a good way though. He had said many times that actions speak louder than words. And for some situations this was true. However, no actions could speak louder than the words that Skipper had said. No actions could hit harder, with such force, as those words. Skipper had always had a way with words. But not like that. His words were always different, at times hard to understand. But what he said was clear.

Manfredi and Johnson were liars and cowards, hiding behind their assassin title. They were heartless and dishonorable. They were killers. They were after Skipper and Julian, and Skipper would make sure they failed their assignment. Because he wasn't heartless. But most important, he recognized what he had. The friends he had, and felt blessed that he had them.

That is what hit everyone hardest. They never thought that Skipper thought of them that way. He probably hadn't either. But finding out what he did, made him realize it. The fact that he sees them as such an important part of who is was also shocking.

Most of them were too afraid to fully recognize this though, especially Julian. The only comfort Julian had was the knowledge that Skipper was going to protect him to the best of his ability. But these two had trained him, and there was two of them. Plus Skipper hated him. How far was Skipper going to be willing to go to keep him safe? Julian didn't know. He thought about running, but his curiosity kept him in place. He was hiding around the corner listening.

Manfredi and Johnson knew that they were better than Skipper. They knew that they had trained him and knew just about all he was capable of. They knew that as tough as he seemed, Skipper wouldn't be all too hard to take down. To eliminate.

But there was one thing they didn't know. Skipper may not have liked Julian. But he wasn't going to just stand by and let him die. No. He was going to keep himself alive. Not for himself. For Julian. He was going to keep himself alive to keep Julian alive. They might've thought that this was going to be a quick, in and out job. But Skipper had another though in mind. If they wanted to play assassin, then he was going to make sure they failed. They lost.

It was time for an old game. A game, of cat and mouse. Skipper planned it to be like the Tom and Jerry cartoon Private watched. The mouse always won. He and Julian would play Jerry. And the assassins would be Tom. But this wouldn't be an innocent cartoon. No, there would be near death encounters. Skipper knew that. Near death was an expectation. What Skipper hoped, was that Julian wouldn't be the one suffering the near death encounters. No, he wished it upon himself. It could be said that he wanted to be the one put in the most pain.

There was no, destination. There were no rules. And only one mission.

Survival.

Skipper had to keep them both alive. He had to find a way to win. Assassins had many rules. But the only one that was never, ever, broken, was probably the most enforced rule of all.

Don't return, don't sleep, until the target is terminated.

Julian would sleep. But Skipper wouldn't. He would be ready to move at all times. When you were an assassins target you had to be.

But the game had to start first. The chase had to begin. The target had to start moving. Running. Fleeing.

First there had to be a diversion.

This is where the thought began. This is when the game started.

Let the game begin.

_***For those who didn't know this- I'm not trying to make you sound stupid, that's not what I do- **_**Capisce **_**is American pseudo Italian (possibly Italian slang I'm not 100% sure) for "Understand?" or "Know what I mean?" Most Americans (or others), misspell and pronounce it as **_**Capeesh (true fact because I myself made the mistake when my bro first told me about it)**_** and in formal Italian it is pronounced **_**Cah-Pee-shay. Also **_**most American-style context would require**_** Capichi. I don't know why. **_** I don't believe you needed to know all of that, I do only because my brother takes Italian. But hey, now you know right? **_


	3. the getaway

Kowalski was the first to shake off the shock of Manfredi and Johnson being alive as assassins. He punched Rico's stomach and Rico burped up a flamethrower. Kowalski pulled the trigger send a comet of fire in front of Manfredi and Johnson, separating them from Skipper. "Run Skipper!" He shouted. He was going to do whatever he could to help Skipper.

"Kowalski no!" Skipper Screamed back. Kowalski was going to get himself killed! What was he thinking?

"RUN!" Kowalski shouted more forcefully.

Manfredi pulled out his net shooter and shot it at Kowalski. The foolish penguin was caught in the net within seconds. Kowalski dropped the flamethrower and the fire disappeared.

Rico jumped in with his bazooka. He shot it at the two traitors. Hastily. They weren't going to get to his friend without taking him down first. He wasn't going to let it happen.

Manfredi and Johnson dodged every one of Rico missiles. They were too fast.

Manfredi dodged a missile and charged at Rico with a sward drawn. Rico quickly threw the bazooka to private and pulled out his chainsaw. He started the motor and ran at Manfredi. He was ready to kill. He ran at Manfredi with hate filled eyes. Wild eyes. He was ready to battle this maniac. He was one. Maniac on maniac. That seemed fair. But he was wilder. It was time to put that wildness to good use.

Private caught the bazooka and just stood there for a minute.

"Shoot Private! Shoot!" Kowalski shouted trying furiously to escape the net. It was wrapped around him many times. He had to get out. He looked over at Skipper. He was still standing there. "GOD DAMMIT SKIPPER! RUN!"

That seemed to kick Skipper into gear. He took off.

Skipper knew he wouldn't be able to stop Rico, Private or Kowalski from protecting him. And it killed him to leave them on their own against Manfredi and Johnson. But he had to keep going. He had to find Julian and get the heck out of there. He ran around the corner and into the lemur king. Without saying a word, Skipper grabbed Julian's arm and pulled him. He saw Alice loading a truck with crates.

"One more Phil." She said.

Skipper ran faster. He only had one shot at this. He needed to jump into the truck as Alice pulled the back closed. If he missed it, he'd be stuck on feet. They needed to get as far away as possible, as quick as possible.

Johnson turned to run after Skipper. But an explosion went off right in front of him. He turned to see Private.

Private was scared. But he knew what he had to do. He held his fear in and shot at Johnson. There was no way he was going to just stand there and let Johnson go after his best friend. He shot again and again. Not thinking. Watching where Johnson went and shooting. He wasn't focused on his thoughts. He focused on his target. He pictured Johnson as a big moving red target. He wanted a bulls-eye. It was easy to think that way. Until the target started shooting back.

Johnson was shooting at Private with his desert eagle. He missed the boys head by a few inches the first time.

He didn't have to shoot again. Private was now a target. He had to move. He shot at Johnson again, then jumped to the side dodging a bullet. He quickly learned to shoot while rolling to the side. Skipper had told him once that learning from experience was a very effective way to learn something. He was absolutely correct. Private was able to see where the barrel was pointed and roll out of the way of the bullet before it ever came out. He was filled with fear and adrenalin. But he was also fueled by anger and disgust. And he didn't want Johnson to hurt Skipper. Under normal circumstances he would be hiding in a corner. But these weren't normal circumstances. Skipper's getaway was depending on how well he was able to keep Johnson busy and how long. He was going to make sure Skipper and Julian got away. Far away.

Rico met Manfredi seconds after he took off towards the assassin. The blade of his chainsaw grinded at the sword. The pulled away from each other. Rico didn't hesitate. He attacked Manfredi aiming for the neck and chest. Manfredi was good. He was able to block all of Rico's attacks. Rico was just as good. Manfredi's blade couldn't touch him. Rico blocked every attack. He kept Manfredi busy for a long time.

But the chainsaw was starting to get heavier. He pushed away from Manfredi and coughed up a sword. He threw his chainsaw to the side and held the weapon with two hands.

Manfredi ran at Rico. He was going to take the crazy penguin down.

Rico had the same thought in mind. He charged at Manfredi.

Alice threw the last crate into the truck. She grabbed the door to the back of the truck and began to pull it down.

Skipper ran faster than he thought he could. Pushing his legs to run like his life depended on it. His life _did_ depend on it. He had to get into the back of that truck. He had to get himself and Julian into the back of that truck. It was their only chance of a successful escape.

Julian was skipping behind Skipper, unable to keep up. Skipper was fast. Julian never knew Skipper could run so fast. He was just hoping that Skipper would get them out of here fast. His crown had fallen off a while ago when Skipper grabbed him and took off. He was scared. He wanted to get as far away from those killer penguins as possible.

They came up on the truck fast. Skipper pushed himself off the ground, taking Julian with him. He didn't know if they made it or not at first. He heard a metallic click right before he hit cold metal. He squeezed his flipper and felt fur.

They made it. They were safe.

The truck lurched forward. They were on their way to… somewhere away from here.

Skipper let go of Julian and sat down against the wall out of breath and shaking. He worried about them. Were they ok? They could've died. Manfredi and Johnson were assassins. They killed people for a living. A few more souls wouldn't have mattered to them. Skipper just hoped they were still alive.

The swords created metallic clinks and clanks as they hit one another. As they blocked and attacked. They whistled as they cut through the air. Flying towards their target. They grinded against each other. Metal on metal. Psycho on psycho.

They were both masters. Handling their swords as if it was another body part. Knowing exactly where it had to be to block an attack. Never losing their grips.

Until Manfredi changed his approach.

He jumped away from Rico. The crazed penguin did the same. Out of breath holding his sword low ready to charge again. But before he was able to, Manfredi pulled a tranquilizer dart out and threw it at Rico.

Rico didn't have enough time to react. The dart hit him in the shoulder. He dropped his sword as he felt himself fall unconscious. He tried to fight it. He lay on the ground using the last of his energy to stay awake.

Manfredi walked up to Rico. "You're good kid. But not good enough," He said flatly, out of breath.

Rico fell into blackness hoping Skipper and Julian were getting far away from here. To somewhere safe. He knew Skipper was worried. Skipper always worried about them. That didn't stop just because he was a target of assassins. Rico knew that until he saw them again, Skipper would worry.

Kowalski bit through the rope net that trapped him. He sawed at the netting with his beak. It had taken him a while, but he finally broke free. He looked around. Private was still shooting at Johnson. But Johnson was shooting back. He had a pistol. Private had a bazooka. Kowalski was glad that he put the unlimited ammunition maker into the bazooka last week.

He saw Rico lying unconscious on the ground and Manfredi running towards Private with a sword drawn. He bolted to Rico and grabbed the sword. He had to save Private. He had to at least save him from Manfredi. He ran as fast as he could towards Manfredi.

Private saw Manfredi running towards him out of the corner of his eye. He shot another missile at Johnson and jumped to the side and back. He dodged both the bullet and Manfredi. Kowalski flashed in front of him. He didn't take time to wonder why. Johnson was recovering and he had to move. He jumped away again, dodging another bullet. He shot another missile at Johnson as he rolled to the side.

Manfredi turned around a quickly blocked Kowalski's attack. He didn't know Skipper had trained them so well already. Johnson had been monitoring them. Why didn't he tell him how good these guys were getting?

Kowalski had seen that Rico was untouched by Manfredi's blade when he grabbed Rico's sword. But he still had to keep Manfredi busy.

"You're making a mistake," Manfredi grunted as he tried to push Kowalski's blade away.

Kowalski pushed his sword into Manfredi's trapping him temporarily. "You're the one who's making a mistake," he hissed. Manfredi was here to kill. Kowalski wasn't going to let him. While running for Rico's sword, Kowalski had seen two figures jump into the back of a truck. Skipper had escaped. Now he had to make sure Skipper and Julian got far away from here before Manfredi and Johnson could even start to worry about them. He jumped back, glaring at Manfredi. "You want to kill him," he stated.

"I do," Manfredi replied.

"Then you're going to have to go through me first," Kowalski growled charging.

"Gladly," Manfredi countered, bracing himself for the attack. He blocked Kowalski's attack and swung at his neck.

Kowalski batted Manfredi's blade away with his own sword and attacked again. The attack was blocked. He found himself furiously blocking and attacking with his blade. He wasn't afraid. Oddly, he was angry. He normally would've contained his anger. But it was working for him this time. He released his anger and used it as fuel along with adrenalin to boost his stamina. He was on both offense and defense, working to slow Manfredi down.

It was working.

Manfredi couldn't believe how long these guys kept going. Private was still shooting at Johnson and rolling away. He hadn't been hit yet! Johnson never had a gun fight this long before. He himself had never had such a long duel. Kowalski never backed off. He was fueled by some unknown power. Manfredi couldn't free himself long enough to grab another dart or anything else! He had to stay focused on Kowalski. Skipper had really trained them well.

But Kowalski and Private weren't experts just yet.

Manfredi and Johnson had more experience. They had more stamina than Private and Kowalski even if Kowalski and Private were fueled by anger. They had the upper hand. More practice.

Private was growing tired, his vision blurring. He was too slow once. Just once.

Johnson aimed and fired. He hit Private in the shoulder making the boy drop his weapon.

Before Private was able to pick up the bazooka he was thrown and restrained against the wall. Metal horseshoe-like restraints held him against the wall. He couldn't move his head arms or legs. He was out of breath and couldn't see straight anymore. His throat was dry and his heart was racing with fear and exhaustion. Johnson walked up to him.

"Skipper trained you well. Better than a thought possible. Don't take this personally Private. I'm better than you. I'm better than Rico and Kowalski, and I'm better than Skipper. You may have helped him get away. But I'll catch him. I promise you, you'll never see his face again," Johnson whispered evilly in Privates ear.

"No!" Private screamed pulling at the restraints. He was going to see Skipper again. He didn't believe Johnson. He was too exhausted to keep his mouth shut. He wasn't good at that anyway, "Skipper's better than you! Ten time better than you! You won't be able to kill him!" he shouted. He believed it too.

"Like I said don't take it personally," Johnson said calmly. He hit Private on the side of the head with the butt of his pistol. He pulled the metal restrain off the boys head and let his head fall limp. Johnson smiled. Two down one to go. He wasn't going to kill these three. That wasn't part of the assignment. He put the desert eagle away and pulled out his crossbow.

He walked closer to Kowalski and Manfredi. He watched for a few minutes. Kowalski was good. Better than he thought the scientist would be. Skipper had worked wonders on him. Turned him from a scared weakling to a brave swordsman. It was amazing to Johnson how well Skipper was able to move on and become the teacher.

Johnson shook it off and aimed the bow at Kowalski. "Kowalski. Stop," He ordered.

Kowalski jumped away from Manfredi and turned around. He was out of breath and tired, but he'd do anything to help Skipper get further away.

"It's over. You knew we'd defeat you sometime," Johnson said calmly.

"I did," Kowalski replied unemotionally. "But that doesn't matter now. I know you'll go after them too. But they have a good head start now. We were able to keep you two busy enough for a long enough period of time for them to make a successful escape. We can't do anything else," Kowalski said calmly still holding the sword tightly. He didn't know what they were going to do. And he didn't care anymore. He pushed his fear away. Skipper was safe. Julian too. That was what mattered at the moment. He looked over and Rico, he was still unconscious. He saw that Private was unconscious now too. He was held up against the wall with blood dripping out of the side of his head. Kowalski was able to tell that the wound wasn't caused by a bullet. There wasn't enough blood. He was still terribly concerned about Private. But the zoo would open soon and he'd get the medical help he needed.

Johnson laughed. "You really believe that don't you? It doesn't matter how much of a head start he gets. We'll find him and his little furry buddy. You won't see either one of them ever again."

"You're wrong," Kowalski replied calmly. He was anything but calm on the inside. He didn't believe Johnson for a single second. But the Gentoo's words still made Kowalski's heart race. What if he wasn't wrong? Kowalski didn't have time to think about it. He felt a sharp pain in his back. His body became numb and dropped to the floor.

"Good-night, Kowalski," Manfredi whispered into his ear.

Kowalski's world went black.

"Let's go," Johnson ordered. "We have a lot of ground to cover."

"We don't even know where they went," Manfredi replied.

"We'll find them. They can run, but they can't hide," Johnson snapped. "We'll find them. Skipper has to mess up sometime."

"I'm sorry," Skipper said solemnly. He said it to Julian and the guys. They didn't need to do what they did. It was an act of bravery he wouldn't have wished upon them in the worst of times. He did remember one thing that helped his worries. Assassins only kill their targets. It was the rule. That didn't mean they couldn't critically damage the ones who got in their way. So they weren't dead. That was a good thing. But Skipper thought of many things that Manfredi and Johnson could've done to Rico, Kowalski, and Private that would make death a warm welcome. It almost brought him to tears.

"Sorry? Skipper, you are saving my life," Julian replied shocked. He didn't know how he recognized that. How Skipper shouldn't be sorry. Now that he was safe, however temporarily the safety was, he realized that Skipper was risking his life to save him. Skipper wasn't being selfish. Julian knew that he'd just slow Skipper down. He knew that Skipper knew that too. But Skipper was still going to keep him safe. He was more heroic than Julian ever gave him credit for. "Ehh… why are you saving my life?" He asked.

Skipper thought about that for a moment. "Because," He finally said, "As much as I dislike you, I can't say I hate you. You annoy me. But I don't think you deserve to die. I'm not going to let you just die. That wouldn't be right," He explained. "Besides, if you died I wouldn't have anyone to argue with," He added.

"True," Julian agreed. If Skipper died he'd have no one to fight with. He and Skipper spent a lot of time fighting a disagreeing with each other. It was un canny. It was good to know that Skipper had a heart behind that card case.

Silence fell between the two for a while.

Skipper couldn't get his mind off of them, Kowalski, Rico, and Private. The humans had probably opened the zoo by now. He knew that the humans probably took all three of them to the infirmary and fixed them up. He knew that they were alive. He was worried about how much pain they were in.

He didn't know that the only one who went to the infirmary was Private. He didn't know that the worst pain for Private was a splitting headache. He didn't know that the worst pain was in the heart for Kowalski, Rico, and Private. He didn't know that they were just as worried about him as he was about them. He didn't know.

And they didn't know where he was. Or that he was still ok. They didn't know that he was close to falling apart worrying about them. They didn't know that he couldn't get them out of his mind. They didn't know how much he really worried about them. They didn't know.

And that was how it was going to stay. For a while.


	4. hiding in Negario

_**Sorry it's taken so long to update. I will try to update faster but I've hit another wall. Writers block is such a pain. Anyway, I hope this chapter is one in which you will enjoy. **_

"You shouldn't do that," Julian stated. He could see it in Skipper eyes. He was worrying about them still. They had been in the back of this truck for what seemed like days. Skipper had told him that they had only been in the truck for five hours. There was a small hole above Skippers head. That's how he could see his eyes. Julian didn't know how he knew. He just did.

Skipper looked at Julian. "I know I shouldn't, but I cannot help it," Skipper replied solemnly. He couldn't just stop worrying about them. He knew what Julian was talking about. He knew his face had worry written all over it. The truth was he didn't care. What he cared about was finding out if they were ok. That and getting him and Julian to a safe location. He had been trying to figure out where they could go that was safe but was coming up blank.

"That's ridiculous!" the driver shouted.

Skipper and Julian became silent to see if they could catch any of the conversation. It might tell them where they were.

"I have my passport. I gave you the destination. I told you what was inside, I showed you the shipping order. What else do you need!" the driver shouted frustrated.

"I'm sorry, but this is Quebec, we need to be tight on security. Just call your boss and let me talk to him," Another man replied calmly. He had a French accent.

"Quebec?" Skipper whispered to himself. The name sounded familiar, but he didn't know where he heard it. "Quebec. Quebec. Where have I heard that before?" It took him several minutes, but he finally got it. "Quebec! Of course! Unit Nine is located in Quebec," He said. He turned to Julian. "This is our stop Ringtail. Let's go."

Julian was a little confused, but Skipper seemed to know what he was doing so he just followed the penguin. He was still a little terrified.

Without a word Skipper and Julian lifted the back door, undid the ancient lock, and jumped out. Skipper closed the door and relocked the ancient lock. It was a very old lock. He and Julian ran off the road into a nearby bush and waited for night to fall. It was best to travel under the cover of darkness. Less humans less traffic, more shadows, more hiding places. Skipper needed to find a patch of woods. Real woods. After that he'd be able to find one of the towns and from there he'd be able to locate Unit Nine's home base.

When they were at the edge of a forest Julian started acting like Julian again. "I am not going in there!" he objected. "It's dark and there are scary, slimy creatures in there and it's dark. It is no place for a king!" He didn't like forests. He was more of a jungle person. Like the jungles in Madagascar. Creatures in forests were wilder, more dangerous, and more scary looking. He hated forests. Not to mention how scared he was to go into one. If it was a jungle it would be an entirely different story.

Skipper sighed. They didn't have time for this. Manfredi and Johnson could be anywhere and Julian was worried about bugs and shadows. They had to get to Delivaria. Once there they could sleep for a little while. They could find Unit Nines' base in the morning. But they'd have to go into the woods first. "Come one Julian," He said annoyed. "We have more things to worry about than scary sliming creatures and darkness," he grabbed Julian's shoulders forcing the ringtail lemur to look him in the eye. "We're being hunted! We don't have time for this."

Julian considered that. If being hunted was worse than going into the woods then he might want to go into them. Even if they were dark and scary and filled with mean creatures that might eat him alive. "No," He replied forcefully. "I am not going." He turned his back to Skipper and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Not voluntarily," Skipper mumbled to himself. "Sorry Julian but we really don't have time for this," Skipper said as he grabbed Julian's arm. He turned and ran into the forest. He ran straight for a few minutes before he recognized where he was. He was actually on the path to Negario. Negario was the fishing city, located underground close to a river. There was a rock with a grey panel that was actually made out of rocks. The panel moved the rock uncovering a trap door. Through the trap door were stairs that led down into the city. He just had to stay on the path.

Julian had screamed when Skipper yanked him into the woods, but after a few minutes it was clear that struggling and screaming did nothing so he skipped along behind Skipper (like he had done back in the zoo) trying to keep up. It was a good thing Skipper was pulling him along or he would've been long lost by now. Skipper was fast for a penguin. He closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the woods or the creatures within it.

The moon was full providing a dim lighting to the forest. It was just enough light for Skipper to see oncoming trees and other obstacles, and still follow the path. There wasn't any conversation at all. Julian was too focused on keeping his eyes closed and Skipper was focusing on getting to Negario in one piece.

Skipper jumped over logs, bushes, ran around trees, without slowing down. When being hunted by assassins with the Skill that Manfredi and Johnson, speed was you worst enemy and best friend. Speed could lead you away from trouble, but it could also bring you to the assassin too fast to slow down in time. Speed could save you, but it could kill you too. Your brother, was hiding. If you could find a good enough hiding spot then you could disappear and the assassin would walk right past you and not even know it.

Negario would be their hiding spot. And speed would get them there before Manfredi and Johnson could locate them. Hopefully.

Skipper found the rock without a problem; he had been to Negario many times. Letting go of Julian's wrist he typed the code into the panel and waited a few seconds for the rock to move.

Julian kept his eyes closed so he didn't see anything.

Skipper opened the trap door and pulled Julian into the stairwell. When they were low enough he closed the trapdoor and listened for the scratch the rock made when it came back over the wooden door. It closed successfully so Skipper continued to pull Julian down the stairs until they reached the bottom. He was surprised that Julian had remained so quiet. They were standing in the doorway to a lit hallway. Skipper looked back at Julian and saw why the lemur hadn't said anything. His eyes were closed. Skipper was glad Julian had been too afraid to keep his eyes open. It saved him a lot of annoyance.

Skipper let go of Julian and told him to open his eyes.

Julian obeyed. He opened one eye just a little and saw that they were no longer in the woods. They were safely located in a stone hallway. He opened his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.

"State your business," a guard at the other side of the hallway demanded.

"Wait a minute," Skipper replied calmly. He had to remember where in Negario this hallway led to. Before they could rest they'd have to find the leader of Negario.

The hallway they were in lead to a small building on the left side of the city. The small building was on a main street. That main street had ten turn offs to back roads where most of the citizens lived. At either end of the street were the North and South main roads. Each one was longer and had fifteen back roads attached to it. At the other end of both streets was the East main street. The leaders' house was just like all the other middle class houses on the outside. The Negario leader liked to be involved in his city. He liked his people to like him, so he made his house look like the middle class. The interior was that of the upper class. He fit in perfectly with the rest of the city and was even part of the fishermen group. His house was in the middle of the East main street.

They were on the west side of town. They needed to be on the east side. Skipper thought for a moment. He needed the leaders' name. But what was his name? N-n-n-something. It started with an 'N'. Nihoto. That was his name. Nihoto. "We need to see Nihoto," Skipper said to the guard.

"Came over so I can get a better look at you," The guard replied.

Skipper walked up to the guard, he had to pull Julian up.

Julian was afraid of the guard. The guard had armor on his chest and head and a mean looking spear at his side. He also had a knife and what looked to be darts on a strap than ran from one shoulder under the other. He was scary looking. He was a scary looking opossum.

"Skipper!" the guard said happily. "Man I haven't seen you in forever. Glad you and the unit got rid of that goon. Man he was scary," he said casually.

Skipper smiled at the guard. "I know it's been some time," he replied. "But we don't have time for a reunion. Me and my friend here are being hunted and I really need to talk to Nihoto," he explained.

"Oh, ah… sure, yeah. You know where to go right?" the guard asked.

"Yeah. I know, thanks." He walked past the guard –still pulling Julian- and walked out into the street. It was late at night so hardly anyone was out on the roads. Only fisherman and late workers were out. The towns around Unit Nine, though the unit was made of all penguins, were very diverse. Of course more water animals lived in Negario, more foragers in Delivaria, more carnivores in Genhii, and more self-protective in Yulanda. Any animal could become a part of any city, so no one questioned a penguin hastily pulling a lemur through the streets.

Using the main roads saved them a lot of time. They made it to Nihoto's house in a few minutes. The guards outside snapped into position when Skipper ran up to the house, but when he got close enough for them to make out who he was they relaxed and stepped aside so he could enter. Since he was pulling Julian along they let him in as well.

The inside of the room had purple and blue tarps hanging on the wall. There were two desks on either side of the room. Both were covered with neat piles of paper, fishing records and such. On the back wall was an array of weapons hung neatly on the wall. They all had a thin line of blue and purple paint at the handles. There was a doorway to the right, next to one of the desks. In the middle of the room were two tables. One was a circular, war planning table. The other was a regular old table.

Nihoto was sitting at the regular table looking over some files.

"Nihoto," Skipper called. He didn't want to disturb Nihoto. Nihoto probably had a lot of things to do. But this was important.

Nihoto looked up from the papers. "Skipper," he said sluggishly, though there was a hint of surprise in his voice.

Skipper was surprised by the look on Nihoto's face. Nihoto looked absolutely exhausted. He had bloodshot eyes and bags under his eyes. He looked like he was half asleep. He probably was. "Wow, you look terrible," was all Skipper could say.

Despite how tired he was, Nihoto laughed. "I feel worse than I look. Trust me," he replied. Nihoto was a river otter. He was strong, but not the strongest. He was a good leader and was able to switch from one mind set to another without a problem. He was a good guy too. Easy to talk to most of the time.

Skipper shook it off. He wasn't here to talk about how tired Nihoto was, though Nihoto could probably use the talk. "We need a place to stay tonight. We're being hunted," He explained.

It seemed to take Nihoto a minute to comprehend what he was being asked. "Oh, yeah. Sorry. You could use the weapon shed," he answered.

"Thank y-" Skipper started.

"You're being hunted?" Nihoto asked surprised.

"Yeah wel-"

"By who?" Nihoto asked.

"Manfredi and Johnson," Skipper replied.

"Manfre- what? Why? I thought they were the good guys?" Nihoto asked severely confused. And tired. "I thought they were dead?"

Skipper took a deep breath. "They faked their deaths as a final test for me. I was supposed to become one of them but did the exact opposite. Their target was my friend here," Julian waved nervously, "But when they found out I lived in the same place they decided to go after me too. They are assassins now and their targets are us," He explained.

"So why do you need to stay here?" Nihoto asked. He seemed to be waking up.

"While we were making our escape Kowalski, Rico, and Private tried to distract them. It worked, but they aren't as good as Manfredi and Johnson. They're probably injured, I need to get to the unit so I can contact them," Skipper replied.

"Don't you think they'd be dead?" Nihoto asked.

"No. Assassins only kill their targets. At least their assassin group does. That doesn't mean they won't critically hurt," Skipper explained. He hoped Nihoto, even though he was close to passing out, would understand.

"Oh, I gotcha. You just want a place to rest for the night so you can go to the unit, make sure your friends are ok, and disappear for the traitors show up?" Nihoto asked, putting everything together.

"Yes," Skipper sighed, glad the Nihoto understood.

"That is fine with me."

Skipper nodded and turned to leave. Everything was working out so far. He was tired, not as much as Nihoto was, so he didn't want to think too far ahead. He would contact the zoo tomorrow. Then he could think ahead. He was almost at the door when it hit him. He needed to make sure Nihoto was ok. Nihoto was nice enough to hide them for the night. He turned back to Nihoto. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Nihoto looked over at Skipper. "Do I look it?" he asked tired.

Skipper shook his head. "Why are you so tired?" He asked.

Nihoto rubbed his eyes. "You have enough problems, runnin away from assassins and all, to deal with my problem," he replied. He didn't want to give Skipper his problem.

"Who said I would deal with it? I just want to know what it is," Skipper insisted. He wanted to make sure Nihoto wasn't driving himself crazy. It was the least he could do.

Nihoto sighed and looked down at the papers on the table. "The fish. They are disappearing. We are starting to catch less and less. Even my best fishermen are getting less fish in their nets. We think that there are fishers upstream catching more than the law allows. You see the fish in this stream are protected. Humans can only take so much before their fishing becomes illegal. I sent some of my men to investigate last week. But none have returned. That means that not only are the humans upstream illegal fishers, but poachers too," Nihoto explained. "This is bad. And I fear it will only get worse."

Skipper thought for a moment. He had the need to figure this out. Nihoto was a good guy. The people in his city were also very good people. They deserved a solid answer. "Let me go," he finally said.

"No," Nihoto replied forcefully. "You and your friend are already in a lot of trouble. I cannot let you do that."

"Nihoto, you need an answer. I can get you that," Skipper negotiated. "Julian won't come with me. I'll leave him in the shed. Just give me some armor and one of your men and I'll look like one of your guards."

Nihoto thought for a moment. "Fine, but you better be back by morning. If you're not… I'll kill you myself," Nihoto replied begrudged. He went into the back room and came out with penguin armor. "Take one of the guards out front."

Skipper took the armor and put it on. "Thank you," he said.

"Remember, morning," Nihoto warned.

"I got it don't worry." But Nihoto didn't have to worry. Skipper was the one who needed to worry. He had to stay alive, and keep Julian alive. He walked outside and told one of the guards to follow him. He was a weasel. The weasel was strong but small, the perfect match for the job he was needed for. Skipper lead Julian to the weapon's shed on the north side of the city. He pushed Julian inside. "Stay here and _don't move,_" Skipper ordered. "I'll be back by morning to get you." He closed the shed and walk with the guard to the west side of the city.

The whole way there Skipper worried about Julian. The lemur was probably going to listen to him, he was too afraid to do anything else. But then there was the little voice in the back of Skippers head that told him to stay with Julian. That Julian would be better off if he was there. Skipper wondered that himself. If Julian needed him so he wouldn't feel afraid. The truth was, he probably did. As he walked up the stair that lead back into the forest, Skipper knew Julian was scared out of his mind. But he had to repay Nihoto for providing a hiding spot.

Skipper and the weasel guard went up through the trapdoor (the rock moved, uncovering the trapdoor, when the trap door was pushed up) and into the woods. They snuck their way through the woods along the river bed. They became sneakier when they neared the upstream bridge (a bridge that went over the river. It marked where upstream was).

Up in the trees…

"More guards? The poachers caught the other group that went up there," Manfredi whispered.

"Yeah, well we can't do anything about it so shut up!" Johnson whispered back harshly.

"These ones are sneakier. I don't think they'll be caught," Manfredi whispered.

Johnson didn't reply. The two watched silently.

On the ground…..

When they got close to the bridged they stopped. Hanging on the bridge were six thick ropes.

"Nihoto was right," the guard whispered, "the fishers are taking too much."

Skipper nodded. "Let's take out those nets then," he whispered. They had to take out the nets so the fish could go down stream. Then the city could get the fish.

Skipper had grabbed a knife when he put Julian into the weapons shed. He took it out and looked over at the guard. The guard did the same. Skipper put a flipper to his beak, signaling to be quiet. The two carefully lowered themselves into the water and swam to the nets.

There had to be at least a hundred fish in each of the three nets. Skipper and the guard went to work. Using their knives they quickly cut through the nets and released the nets. They swam downstream (underwater) until they were a few yards away from the entrance to the city. The guard knew when to get out so he jumped out first and Skipper followed. Once they shook the water off, they went back to the rock and uncovered the trapdoor. They walked back down the stairs and into the hallway.

"Well now we know where all the fish are going," the guard sighed.

The entire operation took a few hours. "You should be getting the catch of your lives now," Skipper replied.

"Yes, we should wake the fishermen," The guard said excitedly.

"You go get some of your friends to do that. I have to check up on someone," Skipper replied. "Tell Nihoto for me."

The guard nodded. With a short wave to the guard, Skipper took off towards the weapons shed.

Julian had been shaking with fear ever since Skipper left. Questions like, what if he was caught, or what if Skipper never came back, harassed him for hours. Being surrounded by dangerous weapons didn't help any. He closed his eyes and rocked himself back and forth. He was so taken into his own mind thinking about those questions, that he didn't notice Skipper came back.

Skipper felt bad when he saw Julian. Julian was rocking back and forth _and_ shaking violently. He went over to the lemur and tapped his shoulder. "Julian?" He whispered.

Julian jumped, and screamed. He pushed himself back into a pile of weapons. They came crashing down over him with a dozen clinks and clanks. He started to shake more violently. He didn't know who it was, but he was sure whoever it was, was there to kill him. "No it's not me! You have the wrong peoples!" he shouted terrified.

"Julian it's me," Skipper said calmly. "Julian?"

Julian didn't move at first. "S-Sk-Skippah?" he asked nervously. He didn't want to anger whoever it was if he got the wrong name. It sounded like Skipper. He really hoped it was Skipper.

"Yes, it's me. I shouldn't have left you here alone," Skipper replied. He felt really bad about leaving him alone now. He gave the poor lemur a panic attack. He walked over and pulled all of the weapons off of Julian. "See," he said stepping back, "it's just me."

Julian crawled forward and got up. He started to calm down knowing Skipper was there. His panic attack was dying down now. He felt as if he was able to breath with Skipper there. He never really felt anything towards the penguin. Skipper was the slap happy penguin. He was hard core and no fun. He was annoying sometimes too. But right now, he was none of that. Ok maybe he was still hard core, but he was more…protective it seemed. That's what gave Julian the sense of protection. Skipper was there, whatever bad things came at them he'd be able to handle right? Julian hoped so. Skipper had stopped every problem before, whether he caused it or not. He could get them safely back to where they were before.

Skipper wasn't so confident. Which was odd because he always had confidence in himself. But now he wasn't so sure. He knew now that he had to stay with Julian at all times or he'd have a panic attack. Skipper knew that he couldn't stay here forever. Most of all he knew that if Manfredi and Johnson were here, in the forest, then when they left tomorrow morning they'd be dead meat. Knowing how clever and skilled they were, not to mention the years of practice they've probably had, they probably were here in the woods. That was a bad thing. If they were going to get to Unit Nine's home base they had to go undiscovered. But how could they do that? It was too risky to just go and do it. They needed some sort of cover. Skipper tried not to think about it, but he couldn't. Julian was counting on him to keep the two of them safe. Skipper, although he didn't really like Julian, couldn't let him down. Or die for that matter. Until they got rid of Manfredi and Johnson, he and Julian would have to be best friends. That shouldn't be too hard, compared with everything else they'd probably have to do.

There suddenly came a frantic knocking on the door of the shed. Skipper and Julian both locked at the door fearfully. Julian was more terrified than Skipper of course. Skipper rummaged around for a few seconds until he found a helmet. He slammed in onto Julian's head and fixed his own head gear. Cautiously, he walked to the door.

Julian didn't do anything but sit and watch. Fear had returned his body to Shaking. The helmet that Skipper had slammed onto his head had helped him feel a little protected. He was still afraid of what could be on the other side of the door.

Skipper picked up a spear on his way to the door. He slowly cracked the door open. "Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me, th-the guard you took up-upstream," the guard replied. He sounded nervous.

Skipper opened the door and pulled the guard in. he closed the door quickly behind the guard. "What is it?" he asked.

"They're here. Those men, um.. Manfredi and-and Johnson," the guard stuttered. He was shaking a little now.

Skipper swallowed hard. Manfredi and Johnson were here? That wasn't good. That was the exact opposite of good. That was horrifying. What were they going to do now? They had to remain hidden. They couldn't be discovered. If they were discovered… well they could kiss their tails good-bye. That couldn't happen. Skipper couldn't let that happen. Skipper grabbed his head. What was he going to do?

Julian froze with fear. They were here? He was going to die. He and Skipper were going to die right here. They were going to die!

The guard saw Skippers distraught and thought for a moment. Manfredi and Johnson weren't a threat to him so he could calm down. He thought for a few seconds. "Hey, I know what we can do," he said.

Skipper looked up at the guard.

"Listen, if they come here, I'll act like your commanding officer. You two lost some weapons. I'll scream at you until they go away," the guard explained.

Skipper let out a breath. That could work. That might just work. "Oh my god," skipper sighed rubbing his eyes. "I think you may have just saved our lives," he said to the guard. "What's your name?" He had never asked the guy for his name.

"Filo," the guard replied.

"Filo?" Skipper asked. He had never heard that name before.

"Yup Fie-low," Filo replied.

"Well thank you Filo," Skipper said thankfully. Filo could have very well saved them from death.

They were quiet for a moment. A moment was all it took.

"I told you if he was here I would know," a muffled voice said from the other side of the door. It sounded like Nihoto.

"Looks like it's time to test your plan," Julian said nervously. He was more scared now than he had been before. He really hoped Filo's plan worked.

"How do we know you're not hiding him?" Johnson said forcefully.

"Why do you need him? Why are you looking so hard?" Nihoto countered.

"What's it to you?" Johnson growled.

"If you don't trust me you must want him for something very important. And if so why don't you trust me?" Nihoto asked with perfect authority.

"We need him for a mission. And we don't trust you because you would side with him over us. He's hiding from us," Johnson hissed. "Move out of the way."

Filo faced Skipper and motioned for Julian to got up and come forwards.

Reluctantly and fearfully Julian stepped forward.

A second later the doors to the shed shot open.

"What do you mean you lost them?" Filo said in a very believable fake annoyed voice, "how could you be so irresponsible? How- How is that possible!"

Skipper opened his mouth to reply.

"Did I give you permission to speak? No! Keep your mouth shut soldier! What you've done could get you demoted! Do you understand me!" Filo shouted angrily.

Skipper and Julian nodded nervously (not because of Filo but because of who was standing behind him).

"Filo," Nihoto said calmly, "what is going on here?"

Filo turned to Nihoto. "Oh, I did not see you there sir. These two lost an entire shipment of arrows. We needed those for the new recruits," filo explained.

Nihoto picked up on the lie right away. "No, how is that possible?" he replied in disbelief (also very believable). "How could you do such a thing?" he asked forcefully.

Skipper hung his head. This was working. This was actually working. Julian saw Skipper hang his head and did the same.

Nihoto sighed. "Go back to the training palace and train them till dawn Filo. That will serve as their punishment. We will recover them tomorrow," he ordered.

"Yes sir," Filo replied militantly. "Let's go," he hissed at Julian and Skipper.

Skipper followed Filo and Julian followed Skipper. He relaxed his tail making it drag on the floor. He was relieved that this was working. But he was still scared out of his mind that his hunters were so close to him.

They remained in single file, looking sad until they were behind the doors of the training palace.

Julian fell back onto the hard floor. He didn't necessarily care at the moment. He was tired and wanted to sleep.

Skipper shook his head and grinned. Julian was still going to be Julian. But he didn't mind right now. Manfredi and Johnson bought it. They were safe, for now. They had escaped detection and could probably rest for the night. But before that he had to figure out how this all happened. "How did you know to come get us?" He asked.

"Nihoto told me to go look to see if you were here. I knew right away that you were and I knew that he knew. I had heard some of the conversation you had with Nihoto earlier so I knew that those had to be the men who were hunting you. I knew where you probably were because you had left your friend their when you and I left for upstream, so I went to the shed. You know the rest from there," Filo explained.

"Thanks, for the save Filo," Skipper thanked. If it weren't for filo he'd be dead. They'd both be dead.

"I will watch the door. You and your friend should get some rest. You will need it," Filo replied.

Skipper nodded and dragged Julian, who was already fast asleep, to a corner of the room. They were still in a training area and needed to be out of the way. He sat up against the wall and fell asleep too.

Nihoto came to the training palace after Manfredi and Johnson left. "Filo open the door," he called.

Filo opened the door and let Nihoto in.

"You will watch over them until they wake," He said. "We will contact the unit in the morning. I do not want them to travel to the base unprotected."

"Yes sir. After what Skipper has done, they deserve protection," Filo agreed.

"Good." Nihoto looked over at them. "Let's hope they will survive long enough to return to their lives. The ones they had before they became targets," He said calmly. He felt bad for them. He did not know the Lemur, but if Skipper was protecting him, then he was a good guy. The way he acted told Nihoto that he was just not very brave. But you didn't have to be brave to be a good man.

Filo nodded.

"I am going to send two more to guard the outside," Nihoto added. "Tomorrow you will go with him and the escort from the unit to the unit's base. I want to know what happens."

"Yes sir, you'll know everything I do," Filo replied.

"You are a grand soldier Filo," Nihoto complimented, and then he turned and left. The two guards arrived a few minutes later.

_**That wasn't too bad was it? I thought it wasn't too bad. R&R! : ) **_


	5. first morning preperations

Skipper woke up early the next morning. It was a force of habit. He would normally be waking up the guys by now. He didn't even know if they were still alive or if their injuries had killed them. It was a heart wrenching thought. To not have them there, to think that when this was all over, they wouldn't be there, was just…it was just horrifying. Skipper didn't always have friends to turn to. There were huge gaps between the time he was separated from his family to the time he was found by Manfredi and Johnson. Huge gaps. When he lost them the only ones who were really there were Kowalski Rico and Private. And they've been with him ever since. Not having them there would be like… taking half of his life away. Half of his sanity too. He couldn't bear the thought of losing them. Yet that's what he thought about all morning.

There was a clock on the wall above the training area's entrance. It read 7:30. Seven thirty in the morning. Seven thirty. He had been up since five o'clock AM. For two and a half hours he had sat against the wall and thought about a million ways they could've been injured. It didn't help him at all. The only thing it did was fill him with more worry. He shook his head and tried to think about something else. Worry wasn't going to do anything for him right now.

It was seven thirty in the morning. The training are was half filled with soldiers training and practicing. Better safe than sorry right? Skipper glanced over at Julian. The lemur was curled up on the floor two feet away. His tail was curled around his body. Julian, despite how unnatural and terrifying this was for him, was doing better than Skipper would've ever imagined. He was listening and doing what he was told to do. Skipper couldn't believe how (for lack of better words) good Julian was being. He was staying out of the way for the most part. It seemed to Skipper that the lemur was actually trying to help. That came as a surprise.

Skipper caught Filo walking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and watched as the weasel came closer. He saluted casually and stared at Filo, waiting for the reason why he walked over. There had to be a reason.

Filo cleared his voice. "Nihoto contacted the unit. He told them to send a small armored group to help out with something. We kept it short and didn't hint at anything. Our messenger is going with an escort but we didn't want to give you away. If the message gets there on time someone should be here for you and thirteen hundred," Filo informed.

Skipper nodded. That was good news. So far so good. Now the messenger had to get there and someone had to come to the city before Manfredi and Johnson returned or they'd be dead. Skipper had faith though. Negario was a trustworthy city. People and all. And the unit was a highly skilled unit. He was just paranoid, like always. He had to calm down. Nothing bad was going to happen. Not today anyway.

"Would you like me to get more guards?" Filo asked concerned. "You look a little… overwhelmed.

Skipper stared at Filo with a lost look. He was overwhelmed. More so now than he had felt in a while. He let a nervous laugh escape him. "No. I'm… I'm fine," He said forcing himself to calm down. He took a deep breath. "I'm fine."

Filo stared at him for a moment making sure he really was ok. "One more thing before I return to my post," He said. "They asked for George. Is that ok?"

Skipper sighed in relief. It was ok. That was fine. Perfect. George would understand. He never really trusted Johnson. He would make sure nothing happened to them too. George was absolutely perfect for this. "Yeah," Skipper replied, "That's perfectly fine."

Filo nodded and jogged back to his post.

Skipper sat back against the wall. Five hours. That would be enough time to rest and get some things together. He got up and walked over to Filo. "How fast could you get someone to bring me new armor?" he asked.

"Five minutes tops," Filo replied confidently.

"Could you get my friend some too?" Skipper asked.

"Yes I can," Filo replied. He turned, opened the training area's door, and whispered something to one of the outside guards. The outside guard jogged off and Filo closed the door.

"On their way now," Filo informed.

Skipper nodded. "I need to talk to Nihoto," he said, "watch over my friend for me."

"But you-"

"I can handle myself. I just need to talk to Nihoto," Skipper reassured.

Filo gave Skipper a concerned look. But he let him go.

The training area was on the South main road. There was a courthouse on the same road. It was on the east side of the road. Using that Skipper took off towards Nihoto's house. He hoped Johnson and Manfredi had left last night or he'd be walking right to his death. He shook that out of his head. He was going to asked Nihoto for some water canteens. If he was going to be running for a while he would need something to carry water in. they would have to be able to survive anything anywhere. Water would be very helpful. They could be lost in a desert or dry lands or stuck in a drought. Either way they'd need water.

Skipper ran through the crowds of people. Everyone had a different destination. They had to go to work to pay their dues or to the market for some food, or to the river to fish, or to the waterhole for water. Skipper had to go to the leaders house to discuss getting canteens so he'd survive being hunter. He didn't fit in here. Then again he really didn't 'fit in' anywhere. When he got to Nihoto's house the guards stepped aside like they had done before. But Nihoto wasn't there. He was probably in his room sleeping. God knows he needed it.

Skipper looked around the room. It seemed so lifeless without Nihoto. He wondered if the otter was really still sleeping or if he was out somewhere. Nihoto wasn't exactly a sit-at-home-and-do-nothing-all-day type of guy.

"Miss me already?" Nihoto said cockily from the entrance.

Skipper spun around at the sudden noise of Nihoto's voice.

Nihoto smiled. "A little jumpy are we?"

Skipper smiled. It was amazing what a little sleep could do for the guy. Give him four hours and he'd run for two days. "Just a little," Skipper replied, shaking his paranoia off.

"I got to thinking this morning," Nihoto started, "you two are going to be leaving today when the unit come's to getcha, hiding your tails wasn't enough of a thank you for saving the whole city. Especially when your life was at risk. So I got you something that might come in handy." He threw two canteens and a strap with a knife and three darts to skipper.

Skipper caught them and stared at them for a second. It was unexpected. Completely excepted in the nicest way, but totally unexpected. "Thank you, Nihoto," He said.

"No, thank you," Nihoto replied. "I have to get to work. Got a meeting with Kohat today."

"Wouldn't want to mess that up," Skipper said. "I'll let you get to it then. Thanks again," he called as he walked out. "A meeting with Kohat," Skipper whispered to himself as he walked back to the training area, "poor guy." Kohat was the president of Yulanda, the manufacturing town. He was a business man and very stubborn. He was an armadillo whose claws were worn and cracked from the work he's done. He was an excellent manufacturer of all sorts of items ranging from the deadliest arrows to the softest cloths. But he was hard to talk to, if you didn't know how to talk to him that is. Negario was a fishing city, and Yulanda was a manufacturing town. The two had little to do with each other. Especially since Delivaria was the major crop village. Most of the food came from them anyway. Talking to Kohat was going to be a big challenge for Nihoto. Skipper hoped it would turn out ok. He wouldn't be here to find out though.

By the time he got back to the training area it was eight ten. Julian was up and sitting in the corner where Skipper had left him. But the lemur looked very tired. Skipper walked over to Julian and picked him up off the floor. "Julian, Nihoto gave us these," He held up the canteens, "do you want to come with me to fill them or stay here?"

Julian looked at Skipper. He looked around the training area. He really didn't want to be left alone again. And since the people who wanted him dead where here, or could possible still be here, the option of staying alone was completely out of the question. He didn't want to die. There were too many days left to part for him to die. "I will go with you," he said.

Skipper turned around and started walking. "Come on," he said calmly. Julian wanted to come. Skipper couldn't blame him. He probably felt safer around someone he knew. Skipper didn't really mind it. Julian had been quite up until now. Maybe something in that little brain of his has clicked and told him that this wasn't a time for goofing off and partying. Maybe he was just too scared to do anything. Who knew?

Julian didn't want to get in the way. He wasn't going to try to. He just didn't want to be alone. It scared him. It was never something he particularly liked (unless something wonderful like smoothies or power or something like that came with it). He followed Skipper to the door of the training area.

Skipper walked past Filo. But since Julian was with him, Filo followed. The water well was at the center of the city. It was a pipe that lead out to the river, but instead of getting rid of water it brought water into the city. It was the cities cleanest water source. Skipper knew exactly how to get there.

Julian didn't know where they were going. You kept glancing around for the two penguins that were after them. He finally understood why Skipper was so paranoid all the time. Someone was always after him. Skipper was always a target. That made things better. A little. It meant Skipper was used to being chased and hunted down. Which meant he knew exactly what to do. That was a major relief for Julian. If Skipper knew what to do then at least they wouldn't be totally out in the open for the two killer penguins to kill them. That was a good thing right? If he was understanding things correctly. He hoped he was.

Skipper led them through the crowds of people. He didn't see Manfredi or Johnson once. Not once. They weren't in Negario anymore. Still Skipper didn't let his guard down. Bad things were bound to happen when you let your guard down.

When they got to the water well they filled their canteens. Skipper slung the straps over his shoulder and continued walking. Julian followed.

They walked through the back roads for the rest of the morning. Skipper wanted to blend in with the crowd. He also wanted to get Julian used to the walking. If they were on the run they wouldn't be able to take rest stops all day. Skipper got Julian some food though. That they would be able to find easily. At least for the first few days. The city got food from Delivaria so there were fruit and vegetable stands.

Julian didn't mind following Skipper at first. After a while it got very tiring. He didn't want to walk anymore, but he didn't want to be left behind. He didn't want to get lost in this place. Then Skipper got him a few mangos. Walking didn't seem to be a problem anymore. Mangos were his favorite fruit. Favorite food. They gave him energy too. As they walked on and on, Julian started to realize that this place wasn't very rich. It looked like a normal place. There were no rich people or any signs of wealth really anywhere. How did these people live like this? He asked Skipper, having really nothing else to do.

"Happiness," he replied. "People are happy with what they have. They don't think about what they don't have. Cherish what is already here before them. It leaves more room for them to be happy."

Julian thought about that for a few seconds. It didn't make sense to him. Happiness. How could someone live off of happiness? It didn't seem possible.

Skipper looked back and saw Julian's confusion. "If you don't think about what you don't have you are happier. You have more time to think of what you do have, more room for happier feelings instead of wants," he explained.

Julian understood what Skipper meant. He just couldn't imagine having to live like this. It seemed so hard, so difficult. How they could live like this beat him but he wouldn't want to live like this. Never in a million years.

When they finally walked back into the Training area it was twelve o'clock. One more hour and they'd be on their way to the unit's home base. One more hour. Skipper and Julian didn't really have much to do. They had canteens for water and they had a way out of the city without being seen. Filo handed them the armor he'd gotten when they walked in. Skipper had to help Julian get into his armor. Then there was nothing else to do but wait. So that's what they did. They watched the soldiers train for an hour and a half before Filo walked over and told them that George and his squad had arrived.

Skipper got up and walked to the door. Filo went before him.

"Look I don't know what's so important here. Everything seems fine," George stated when Filo approached. "What do you need from me?"

"It's not what the city need from you," Filo replied calmly. He moved out of the way so George could see Skipper. "It's what he needs."

Skipper stared at George for a moment. "This isn't very surprising is it?" he asked assumingly.

George just stared at Skipper for a few seconds. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think. Why did Skipper need his help? Moe than that, why was the message so simple. Skipper would have to be in big trouble for something to happen like this. He rubbed his head with one of his flippers. "What did you get yourself into this time?" He sighed.

Skipper didn't know how to say it. So he just came out and said it. "I'm being hunted," he explained. "My friend and I actually."

George gave him a skeptic look. "Are you joking with me?"

Skipper looked around. "No, I'm not. I am being hunted and can't stay here."

"Fine," George sighed. "Come. Since you are in armor you should blend in pretty well. Who's the friend?"

Skipper went back to the corner of the training area and half dragged Julian to the door.

George looked Julian head to toe. Sized him up. "This? Is your friend?" He asked Skipper confused.

Skipper let out a deep sigh. He didn't like to think that way but having Julian as a friend during this wasn't exactly going to be easy. "Yes."

"Fine, let's go before whoever is hunting you gets here," George said walking away.

Julian, Skipper, and Filo followed George and met his army in the woods. From there they traveled to the unit's base.


	6. a walk in the woods

Surrounded by armor and dead emotionless faces, Julian kept close to Skipper. He didn't know who these people were or where they were going, all he knew was that Skipper knew what was going on so they had to be safe…for now. He just didn't know how long 'for now' was. It was starting to make him nervous.

Skipper didn't talk. He didn't feel like talking, he had too many things on his mind. First of all was where they were going to go after Unit nine's base. They had to go somewhere. One thing he knew for sure was that they'd have to travel under the cover of darkness. If there was enough natural cover they'd travel during the day too. Where they went was another thing all together. They couldn't stay at the base, it was too close. Manfredi and Johnson were too close. They had been and Nagario yesterday so they couldn't be too far off. For the next few days darkness would be their allies. Humans too. They had to travel through human homes and buildings during the day and in the shadows at night if they were ever going to get out of Canada alive. How they were going to survive after that would have to wait. How long they'd be in hiding would be undiscovered for a while too. He wished he had a way of contacting the zoo though. That would really help.

He worried about them. He had ever since they left, although he had tried to push them to the back of his mind the thought of them and if they were ok nagged at the corner of his conscious. What happened after he left the zoo? Johnson and Manfredi were stronger than they were. Sure they had come a long way from when they first met but they were still weaker than the two Gentoo's. The more experienced birds could lay waste to them if they really wanted to. Skipper hoped that wasn't the case. He hoped that they were still ok. He really did. It had been nagging him all day. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost them. Well he did, but he didn't like thinking about it. He'd probably go on a rampage kill Manfredi and Johnson and sit in a ditch until he starved to death. Not a happy thought. He didn't like to think of them as dead.

They walked in the cover of the small army that George had brought. It was now late in the afternoon and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of the native birds and the leaves crunching under their feet. It was early autumn and the leaves had just begun to fall from the trees. The woods around them were like an inferno, bright colors of red orange and yellow all around them. Beautiful really. If only they had time and leisure to enjoy it. But they didn't. They followed the small army of silent men through the woods to Unit Nines base, where they would be safe for hopefully a little while.

Finally George spoke. "How did you get yourself into this?" he asked Skipper.

Looking straight ahead Skipper answered in an emotionless voice, "I didn't. They showed up and explained everything, and then I was running for my life."

"What exactly happened at that little zoo of yours?" George asked.

"Well no one had shown up that morning, that's not normal. And just when everyone had calmed down a bomb exploded. Johnson told me I was supposed to become an assassin and when I refused he said he had to hunt me down. He and my friend. Kowalski, Rico, and Private distracted them, and I took Julian and fled," Skipper explained.

"Ah so that's what's bugging you then," George said as they continued to walk.

"What?" Skipper asked. He knew exactly what George was talking about though. And he was right, it was bothering him. It had been ever since it happened.

"You're worried about them, and I don't blame you," George replied. "Johnson, I never trusted him, not from the day I found him did I truly trust him."

"How did you find him?" Skipper asked. Johnson never told him anything about George or how they met. He was curious. And it took his mind off being hunted.

"He was lost, just like you was," George explained. "Lying in the woods asleep and in danger. He was in the dangerous parts. A battle was about to happen there if I remember correctly. He being there wasn't good. So I took him back to the base and trained him. Like he did you. And when we went out on operations a taught him how to fight a true man's fight. Not with weapons but with a more flowing type of fighting. Martial arts I think it's called now, karate, or kongfu or whatever. The way of the true man it was called in my time."

"A forgotten style of martial arts," Skipper said.

"Yes, that it is. He learned how to fight like a member of a unit, and like a true, man, and he did very well. There was just always a feeling I had about him. He was never like the other young men, always quick to kill, angry about something it always seemed. A hard case. And that's coming from a fellow hard case. You know when he found you I trusted you before I ever heard a word from your mouth. You just seemed like such an innocent boy evil could never touch. Manfredi joined the unit a few years before you came along. He I had always trusted. When he and Johnson became buddies I was relieved, confused but relieved. Manfredi gave Johnson a softer side in my opinion. And when the two said they'd train you together I didn't worry much. They left the unit a short while after that, if you remember. I always had a worry about you. The feeling I had about Johnson when I found him, a feeling of distrust never left. And so when we started monitoring you I found great relief in that you turned out the way you did. Johnson always seemed sick to me. The only thing of him that rubbed off on you was being a real hard case. That I rubbed onto him." George paused and looked over at Skipper. "You know what most people don't see in us."

"Feelings," Skipper answered. "They see a hard case and think that there isn't a heart behind it."

"Yes, but you know what I've found?" George asked.

"What?" Skipper replied. He had no idea what George was talking about.

"I found, and you boy are proof, Hard cased have the best hearts. Because they save them for when they're really needed. You have that talent. You hide away everything and when it's needed it bursts out. The sad part is you don't see it."

"And I didn't learn what love was from Johnson," Skipper stated.

"Who did you them?"

Skipper stopped for a moment. "Private."

"Ah, yes," George replied. He stopped and with him his men. "That boy has a big heart. Too big for the rest of him. Naïve it's made him."

"Yeah, but it's always needed," Skipper said. Private always had too big a heart to fit the situation. With that came hope, a factor needed no matter what happened. And no matter what Private always had hope. He just forgot sometimes. Skipper smiled. He was naïve, but not dangerously so. He hides from danger if it approached. Most of the time anyway. He just didn't fully understand. He was you too though. Not to be used as an excuse. Private was relatively young. He was the only one who still had an ounce of innocence in him.

George patted Skipper on the back. "They're fine. If it's one thing I know about assassins and their jack ass ways it's that they only kill their targets. Any other deaths are punishable by death." He started walking.

Skipper watched him for a few seconds. "How do you know that?" he called after him. His heart started racing. Was George one of them too?

"Johnson, he came to me one day and told me that. Asked me if it was cool. When I scolded him he threw a fit and ran to his quarters. There was never an ounce of trust between after that," George replied glancing over his shoulder. "Johnson was a sick kid. When he joined the assassins I can't tell you. Come on we're almost there."

Skipper began to walk again. He was confused. He never knew the relationship between George and Johnson had been so bad. Johnson never cared much for George. The two were always fighting. But George always got the worst of hit. He always looked more stressed. More hurt. And the fight that made the three of them leave the unit demoted George. And yet, George still had a kind edge to him. Sara. Skipper thought. Sara gave him that. She gave everyone that. She was too young to give anyone that when Johnson was in the unit. She was a kid like he was. They were the only kids in the unit. Saved from a danger they didn't even know. She softened George like Private did to himself.

Everyone needs someone like them. Someone too keep them from completely cracking. Skipper wasn't sure all of a sudden, if he could really do without Private for however long this chase lasted. Or Rico and Kowalski for that matter. He hadn't realized how much he needed them. If for anything his sanity.

As he walked forward towards the Unit he hoped this chase wouldn't last too long. For his sanity. And for the sanity of everyone left at the zoo. More importantly for them. They sacrificed their lives for him.

He'd make sure it wasn't a wasted sarcafice.


End file.
